I commission you to verify, on the basis of what laws and regulations there are registered in Moscow, as reported in Izvestia of 5/II, over 143 private publishing houses, what the personal composition of the responsible

* See the preceding document. Ed.

administrators and editors is for each publishing house, what their civil liability is, as well as their liability before the courts in general, who is in charge of this matter in Gosizdat, who is responsible for this.

Speak also confidentially about what the nature of and how the supervision of this matter is organized on the part of the Narkomiust, RKI, and VChK. All of this strictly confidential. Prepare me an answer, even if preliminary, by Wednesday the 26th.

Lenin

Dictated by telephone

6 February 1922

copies

First published in 1945

in Lenin Miscellany XXXV

Printed from typescript